Pink Bunny Slippers
by Yugao
Summary: Hwoarang is stuck babysitting Baek's annoyingly lovable niece, Shinhye, who forces him to wear those annoying bunny slippers! What happens when the doorbell unexpectedly rings?


**_Pink Bunny Slippers_**

_**Yugao**_

**_Summary: _**Hwoarang is tasked with babysitting Baek's five-year-old niece, Shin-hye, and when the doorbell rings unexpectedly, he's in for a world of embarrassment.

**_Author's Note: _**Okay, a HwoarangAsuka one-shot. I'm not really good at writing humor, so… please don't kill me.

**_Disclaimer: _**The only character I own is the unimportant, annoyingly adorable little Shin-hye. Everything else belongs to Namco.

"_Uncle Hwoarang?"_

The redheaded young man exasperatedly put down the remote, and turned to the little girl who had tugged on his shirt sleeve. "_What is it, Shin?" _he asked in Korean, the only language she understood. His dark eyes were set in a glare, unforgiving, to the five-year-old.

In some strange way, Shin-hye resembled his teacher, Baek Doo-san. _And why not? _He thought with a smirk, _The little twerp is his niece. _He suspected it was her deep, reflective eyes that marked the semblance.

How had he gotten stuck here in the first place? Often labeled rebel without a cause, or alternatively kid without a clue, he should have had better things to do than sit in his apartment, watching both the television and the kid with him. His head rested on his propped up hand, and his eyes lowered, bored.

Yeah, he should have turned down Baek's request.

"_Hwoarang, there is something I need you to do today."_

_He lit up. He hadn't left the dojo for quite a while, restricted to training, eating and sleeping. "Baek must've changed his mind," he'd thought to himself gleefully, "This must be my lucky day!"_

"_So," he said, all proud and puffed up as he always was, "What is it? Beat up someone who's been bugging you on the other side of town? Save one of your students who'd gotten lost in Seoul? Say the word and I'll do it."_

_Baek raised an eyebrow. "The job I had in mind is a lot less glamorous."_

"_I'm not doing your laundry," Hwoarang answered, his eyes narrowing._

_His teacher laughed. "Unglamorous it may be, but it's much more gratifying than that."_

"Gratifying," he mumbled under his breath, "Pah."

Her big, brown eyes widened even more, making her look like a real-life porcelain doll. She had short, dark brown hair and a vibrant smile. "_I wanted to give you something!" _she said, her voice high-pitched and ecstatic, "_It's a gift that Uncle Baek and I picked out for you. He said you'll wear it if I asked real nice."_

She put a big box on his lap. It was wrapped in glossy red paper, and tied with gold tinsel-like ribbon. It was tied on top professionally in a bow.

_Wear it…? _He wondered, carefully taking the wrapper apart. He cast a curious glance to little Shin-hye, who stood beside the couch with an innocent smile on her face.

The wrapping was off, and he pushed open the box. He peered inside, and tried his hardest not to cringe.

In the cardboard box was a pair of bright pink furry bunny slippers.

"_So, Uncle Hwoarang? D'you like 'em? I just love rabbits, don't you? You'll wear them, right? For… for me?" _Shin-hye said all of this in one breath as she jumped up and down excitedly. "_Right, Uncle Hwoarang? Please wear 'em… for me!"_

He took them out of the box and laid the slippers on the couch beside him. He turned to Shin-hye and put on the most sincere voice he could muster. "_Listen, Shin-hye, you're a real sweet kid for buying these bunny slippers for me, but… I can't wear them."_

"_Don't… don't you love bunnies?" _Shin-hye asked with doleful eyes.

"_I love bunnies, and pink is a nice color," _he answered, glad that no one had heard him say that. "_But they're… they're so nice that I don't deserve to wear them."_

Her miserable look stayed on her face, until tears started to fall from her eyes. Hwoarang winced. "_Don't cry, Shin…"_

That did it. She bawled so loud he was sure Kazama all the way in Japan heard it.

No matter how sweetly, how softly he coaxed her to stop crying, she only screamed louder. He didn't know how much more he could take.

"Screw you! To hell with your pink bunny slippers! Now shut up, brat!"

… How much he wanted to say that.

But if he did, he wouldn't be able to leave Baek's dojo ever again.

"_Okay, all right, Shin," _he said finally, "_I'll wear the bunny slippers. But will you please stop crying?"_

She sniffled, but nodded. The nod was a good sign. … Right?

He gave a huff, took off his shoes and tossed them to the other side of the television, and put the slippers on. They fit well, giving his feet a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling.

He wrinkled his nose. He hated everything that was nice, warm and fuzzy.

Shin-hye clapped gleefully. She jumped up and down in childlike happiness. "_Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Uncle Hwoarang! You look so adorable in those slippers!"_

Ah well, he couldn't really argue about looking adorable.

The little girl picked up the remote control and changed the channel to the cartoons. Hwoarang was about to protest when suddenly, the doorbell rang. He cursed, and stood up to answer the door.

He reached the door, and yanked it open.

His jaw fell.

Standing there, in the doorway, was Asuka Kazama. She'd worn a too-tight red shirt and a too-short dark blue skirt. She gave him a big, great grin and… looked at his shoes.

Crap. The bunny slippers.

He must've turned as red as his hair, because he felt all the blood rush to his face. "Um… er… yeah, I'm um…" he stammered.

She grinned. "Nice slippers. Say, are you gonna invite me in or are you going to make me stand here all day?"

"Oh. Of course not. Come in," he stuttered, bringing her into the living room. "Um… I'm babysitting Master's niece, Shin-hye. What are you doing in Seoul?"

She smiled. "Er… Julia had to meet up with one of her scientists up here, and I um…tagged along," she began, "I really just wanted to see you."

They sat down on the couch, watching cartoons along with Shin-hye. He may have been wearing pink bunny slippers, but he never felt happier.

**_Author's Note: _**Okay. It's done, think you can review? Please?


End file.
